[Screening methods for malignant ovarian tumors in adult women]

Ovarian cancer is associated with high mortality rate which has improved a little despite therapeutic advances. It causes more deaths than combined cervical and uterine cancer. High mortality is believed to be a direct result of already advanced stage at the time of diagnosis. Survival is excellent in case of early stage disease but poor in late stage disease, regardless of histology. The goal of screening for ovarian cancer is restricted to detection of asymptomatic early stage disease, as precursor lesions of ovarian cancer have not been identified. At present, there is no reliable method of ovarian cancer screening which has been shown to reduce mortality from ovarian cancer. Therefore, routine screening of women in general population can not be currently advised. Screening should be limited to high-risk population and subjects participating in research projects as long as the results of current studies are available.